BitterJalapeno “Low N Slow” is the fourth studio album from Ohio based sludge metal outfit Sweaty Mammoth (best band name I’ve heard in a long time). It was digitally self-released by the band in February 2021. The overall sound is dominated by low tuned, thick guitars and clean, melodic vocals which should please fans of Floor and Torche but lacks some of the rather accessible and poppy hooks present in the music of these bands - in particular, the latter. Fans of Mastodon's mid 00s work should also enjoy the crushing and sludgy, yet intricate guitar work.

There is also a notable fusion of elements of 90s sludge metal and 70s classic rock (think Blue Öyster Cult) while the jam like guitar solos are reminiscent of the stoner rock/metal scene of the 90s and 00s. Tempo wise, the album maintains the classic sludge formula of being pretty slow sporadically interspersed with faster and more aggressive parts. Although the bulk of the vocal delivery is clean, harsh screaming does feature occasionally, most notably on “Minwax Polecat” and the final track “In” which builds up to become an utterly crushing doom fest before ending with a weird trippy outro.

The album is consistent in quality throughout so it’s hard for me to pick specific highlights but my favourite tracks are the aforementioned “In” and “Pube Casino” – a mainly instrumental track which combines blistering lead guitar parts and slower atmospheric parts into a neat, coherent piece of music which would not sound out of place on Mastodon's 'Blood Mountain" album.

There may be nothing ground-breaking here but its definitely worth checking out as it is well played music with plenty of strong, meaty riffs as well as bringing something fresh to the world of sludge and I have found it extremely enjoyable listening and it will become part of my regular rotation.